Billy J. Kramer (born William Howard Ashton, on August 19, 1943, in Bootle,… Read Full Bio ↴Billy J. Kramer (born William Howard Ashton, on August 19, 1943, in Bootle, Liverpool, England) was a British Invasion / Merseybeat singer who had a number of hits in the early 1960s as Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas (aka Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas). Kramer is known today primarily as the singer of various Lennon-McCartney compositions that The Beatles did not use.
Early career
The performing name Kramer was chosen at random from a telephone directory. It was John Lennon's suggestion that the "J" be added to the name to further distinguish him by adding a 'tougher edge'. Billy soon came to the attention of Brian Epstein, ever on the look-out for new talent to add to his expanding roster of local artists. Kramer turned professional but his then backing band, The Coasters, were less keen, so Epstein sought out the services of a Manchester based band, The Dakotas, a well-respected combo then backing Pete MacLaine.
Even then, The Dakotas would not join Kramer without a recording deal of their own. Once in place, the deal was set and both acts signed to Parlophone under George Martin. Collectively, they were named Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas to keep their own identities within the act. Once the Beatles broke through, the way was paved for a tide of "Merseybeat" and Kramer was offered the chance to cover a song first released by the Beatles on their own debut album, Please Please Me. The track had been allegedly turned down by Shane Fenton (later Alvin Stardust) who was looking for a career reviving hit.
Success
With record producer George Martin, the song "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" was a number two UK Singles Chart hit in 1963, and was backed by another tune otherwise unreleased by The Beatles, "I'll Be on My Way". After this impressive breakthrough another Lennon/McCartney pairing "Bad to Me" c/w "I Call Your Name" reached number one. "I'll Keep You Satisfied" ended the year with a respectable number four placing.
Billy was given a series of songs specially written for him by John Lennon and Paul McCartney which launched him into stardom and a proper place in the history of Rock and Roll. I'll Keep You Satisfied, From A Window, I Call Your Name and Bad to Me all became international million sellers for Billy, and won him appearances on the TV shows Shindig!, Hullabaloo and The Ed Sullivan Show.
The Dakotas , meanwhile, enjoyed Top 20 success in 1963 on their own with Mike Maxfield's composition "The Cruel Sea", an instrumental retitled "The Cruel Surf" in the U.S., which was subsequently covered by The Ventures. This was followed by a George Martin creation, "Magic Carpet", evoking a dreamy atmosphere with a subtle echo laden piano, playing the melody alongside Maxfield's guitar. But it missed out altogether and it was a year before their next release. All four tracks appeared on a highly-collectable EP later that year.
The three big hits penned by Lennon and McCartney meant that Kramer was always seemingly in the Beatles' shadow, unless he did tried something different. Despite being advised against it, he insisted on recording the Stateside chart hit "Little Children" - the lyrics were allegedly about getting his girlfriend's brothers and sisters out of the way so they could make love. It became his second chart topper and biggest hit. It was Kramer's only major hit outside of the UK. In the U.S., this was followed up with "Bad to Me" which reached number nine. Despite this success Kramer went backwards with his second and last UK single of 1964; another Lennon/McCartney cast-off "From A Window", which only just became a Top Ten hit.
After the peak
The year 1965 saw the end for the Merseybeat boom, and the next Kramer single was "It's Gotta Last Forever", which harked back to a ballad approach. In a year where mod-related music from the likes of The Who prevailed, the single missed completely. Kramer's cover of "Trains and Boats and Planes" saw off Anita Harris' cover version only to find itself in direct competition with its composer, Burt Bacharach's effort, which won the day. Kramer's effort still reached a respectable number 12, but was the group's swansong, as all future cuts missed the chart.
The Dakotas ranks were then strengthened by the inclusion of Mick Green, the ex-guitarist with the London band the Pirates who backed Johnny Kidd. This line-up cut a few tracks which were at odds with the balladeer's usual fare. These included a take on "When You Walk in the Room" and "Sneakin' Around". The Dakotas final outing whilst with Kramer was the blues driven "Oyeh!" - but this also flopped.
The final showing
After releasing "We're Doing Fine", it too missed the charts leaving singer and group to part company. Kramer had a brief solo career which took him eventually to live in America.
The Dakotas re-formed in the late 1980s and recruited vocalist Eddie Mooney and session musician Toni Baker. They still tour and record. Other latter-day members are drummer Pete Hilton and guitarist Alan Clare.
In 2005, Kramer recorded the song "Cow Planet" for Sandra Boynton's children's album, Dog Train. A long-time fan of Kramer's, Boynton had sought him out for her project: in 1964, at age 11, she had bought Little Children as the first album she ever owned.
Early career
The performing name Kramer was chosen at random from a telephone directory. It was John Lennon's suggestion that the "J" be added to the name to further distinguish him by adding a 'tougher edge'. Billy soon came to the attention of Brian Epstein, ever on the look-out for new talent to add to his expanding roster of local artists. Kramer turned professional but his then backing band, The Coasters, were less keen, so Epstein sought out the services of a Manchester based band, The Dakotas, a well-respected combo then backing Pete MacLaine.
Even then, The Dakotas would not join Kramer without a recording deal of their own. Once in place, the deal was set and both acts signed to Parlophone under George Martin. Collectively, they were named Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas to keep their own identities within the act. Once the Beatles broke through, the way was paved for a tide of "Merseybeat" and Kramer was offered the chance to cover a song first released by the Beatles on their own debut album, Please Please Me. The track had been allegedly turned down by Shane Fenton (later Alvin Stardust) who was looking for a career reviving hit.
Success
With record producer George Martin, the song "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" was a number two UK Singles Chart hit in 1963, and was backed by another tune otherwise unreleased by The Beatles, "I'll Be on My Way". After this impressive breakthrough another Lennon/McCartney pairing "Bad to Me" c/w "I Call Your Name" reached number one. "I'll Keep You Satisfied" ended the year with a respectable number four placing.
Billy was given a series of songs specially written for him by John Lennon and Paul McCartney which launched him into stardom and a proper place in the history of Rock and Roll. I'll Keep You Satisfied, From A Window, I Call Your Name and Bad to Me all became international million sellers for Billy, and won him appearances on the TV shows Shindig!, Hullabaloo and The Ed Sullivan Show.
The Dakotas , meanwhile, enjoyed Top 20 success in 1963 on their own with Mike Maxfield's composition "The Cruel Sea", an instrumental retitled "The Cruel Surf" in the U.S., which was subsequently covered by The Ventures. This was followed by a George Martin creation, "Magic Carpet", evoking a dreamy atmosphere with a subtle echo laden piano, playing the melody alongside Maxfield's guitar. But it missed out altogether and it was a year before their next release. All four tracks appeared on a highly-collectable EP later that year.
The three big hits penned by Lennon and McCartney meant that Kramer was always seemingly in the Beatles' shadow, unless he did tried something different. Despite being advised against it, he insisted on recording the Stateside chart hit "Little Children" - the lyrics were allegedly about getting his girlfriend's brothers and sisters out of the way so they could make love. It became his second chart topper and biggest hit. It was Kramer's only major hit outside of the UK. In the U.S., this was followed up with "Bad to Me" which reached number nine. Despite this success Kramer went backwards with his second and last UK single of 1964; another Lennon/McCartney cast-off "From A Window", which only just became a Top Ten hit.
After the peak
The year 1965 saw the end for the Merseybeat boom, and the next Kramer single was "It's Gotta Last Forever", which harked back to a ballad approach. In a year where mod-related music from the likes of The Who prevailed, the single missed completely. Kramer's cover of "Trains and Boats and Planes" saw off Anita Harris' cover version only to find itself in direct competition with its composer, Burt Bacharach's effort, which won the day. Kramer's effort still reached a respectable number 12, but was the group's swansong, as all future cuts missed the chart.
The Dakotas ranks were then strengthened by the inclusion of Mick Green, the ex-guitarist with the London band the Pirates who backed Johnny Kidd. This line-up cut a few tracks which were at odds with the balladeer's usual fare. These included a take on "When You Walk in the Room" and "Sneakin' Around". The Dakotas final outing whilst with Kramer was the blues driven "Oyeh!" - but this also flopped.
The final showing
After releasing "We're Doing Fine", it too missed the charts leaving singer and group to part company. Kramer had a brief solo career which took him eventually to live in America.
The Dakotas re-formed in the late 1980s and recruited vocalist Eddie Mooney and session musician Toni Baker. They still tour and record. Other latter-day members are drummer Pete Hilton and guitarist Alan Clare.
In 2005, Kramer recorded the song "Cow Planet" for Sandra Boynton's children's album, Dog Train. A long-time fan of Kramer's, Boynton had sought him out for her project: in 1964, at age 11, she had bought Little Children as the first album she ever owned.
I'll Be On My Way
Billy J. Kramer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The sun is fading away
That's the end of the day
As the June light turns to moonlight
I'll be on my way
Just one kiss and I'll go
Don't hide the tears that don't show
As the June light turns to moonlight
I'll be on my way
To where the winds don't blow
And golden rivers flow
This way will I go
They were right, I was wrong
True love didn't last long
As the June light turns to moonlight
I'll be on my way, hey
To where the winds don't blow
And golden rivers flow
This way will I go
They were right, I was wrong
True love didn't last long
As the June light turns to moonlight
I'll be on my way, hey
I'll be on my way, oh, oh
I'll be on my way, oh, oh
I'll be on my way
That's the end of the day
As the June light turns to moonlight
I'll be on my way
Just one kiss and I'll go
Don't hide the tears that don't show
As the June light turns to moonlight
To where the winds don't blow
And golden rivers flow
This way will I go
They were right, I was wrong
True love didn't last long
As the June light turns to moonlight
I'll be on my way, hey
To where the winds don't blow
And golden rivers flow
This way will I go
They were right, I was wrong
True love didn't last long
As the June light turns to moonlight
I'll be on my way, hey
I'll be on my way, oh, oh
I'll be on my way, oh, oh
I'll be on my way
The song "I'll Be on My Way" by Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas is a ballad about a man who is leaving his lover behind. The sun is setting, and he knows it's time to go. He asks for one last kiss before he leaves and urges her not to hide her tears. He's leaving for a place where the wind doesn't blow and the rivers flow golden. He acknowledges that they were right all along and that their love wasn't meant to last. In the end, he repeats that he'll be on his way.
Line by Line Meaning
The sun is fading away
The day is ending
That's the end of the day
The day is coming to a close
As the June light turns to moonlight
As the day turns to night
I'll be on my way
I will leave
Just one kiss and I'll go
I only need one goodbye kiss
Don't hide the tears that don't show
Don't try to hide your emotions
To where the winds don't blow
To a calm, peaceful place
And golden rivers flow
With beautiful surroundings
This way will I go
I will choose this path
They were right, I was wrong
I made a mistake, they were right
True love didn't last long
Our love was not meant to be
I'll be on my way, hey
I will leave, hey
I'll be on my way, oh, oh
I will leave, oh oh
I'll be on my way
I will leave
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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@athlone1975
Love this and 'From A Window' two cracking songs written by Lennon/McCartney which suit Billy J's voice.
@legendaryTMNICO
The Beatles version is better.
@joedivision1587
This song and Thank you girl....my
Two favorite Beatles songs
Just love the melodic simplicity of the guitars. Very heart touching.
@kathjordan2497
Brilliant song
@filmer750
One of my favorite songs :)
@galericulus9736
+filmer750 Mine too.
@rtrepsas
Pure Paul McCartney: A huge favorite path mine as well. Question: why does Paul write so many songs about escaping or traveling like “I’ll follow the Sun“, or “things we said today“ etc. etc.?
@jrgboy
The Beatles only recorded this for the BBC, it was an older song, they wrote the best for themselves..
@marcusm4766
Definitely more of a Buddy Holly vibe on this than on The Beatles' version.
@lobstervortex
really? i think that the beatles version is more like Buddy Holly. this is more standard merseybeat stuff.